1. Technical Field
This invention generally relates to allocation of resources in a networked computer system, and more specifically relates to software defined infrastructures that encapsulate physical server resources into logical resource pools to share the resources of the physical server across multiple cloud solutions or workloads.
2. Background Art
Cloud computing is a common expression for distributed computing over a network. Cloud computing is commonly used to refer to network-based services which appear to be provided by real server hardware but are provided by virtual hardware or virtual machines (VMs). The virtual machines are simulated by software running on one or more real machines. The virtual machines do not physically exist and can therefore be deployed where needed and dynamically scaled without affecting the end user.
Software Defined Environment (SDE) is a term introduced by International Business Machine Corporation (IBM). SDE is part of its “software defined everything” vision. An SDE can be used to control the entire computing infrastructure including compute resources, storage and network resources to the type of work required. By dynamically assigning workloads to resources based on a variety of factors, including the characteristics of specific applications, the available resources, and service-level policies, a software-defined environment can deliver continuous, dynamic optimization and reconfiguration to address infrastructure issues.